


All Dead, All Dead

by Rose_of_Pollux



Series: October 2020 writing challenge [11]
Category: Super Smash Brothers, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, World of Light (Super Smash Brothers), but in the meantime it is a boatload of angst, deals with canonical character death that will eventually be reversed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27106396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: [World of Light] As Link is freed from Galeem's control, the reality sinks in that, for the second time, he has failed everyone in his beloved homeland of Hyrule--but this time, he truly is the sole survivor.
Series: October 2020 writing challenge [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1981039
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	All Dead, All Dead

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during the events of my World of Light fic from last year, "A Devil Put Aside for Me" (specifically during the events of Chapter 9), but can be read independently of it.

Link needed a moment alone. The realization of everything was all too much, and so, he had slipped away from his small group of friends and allies to be alone with his thoughts—and they were not pleasant ones.

In the back of his mind, Link had known what the implications of Galeem’s plot were—the fact that only the fighters that Master Hand had amassed had been brought back from death, to serve as his servants, while every other being in the universe that Galeem had slain had been reduced to spirit form, forced into puppet bodies or imprisoned somewhere.

Only the fighters were alive. And he was the only one from his era of Hyrule. His two other counterparts had been from the Hyrules of millennia ago—Zelda and Sheik, as well. And by a cruel twist of fate, Ganondorf’s Gerudo form, also from an ancient age, was alive. Link had found it incredible that the beast he had fought against had once had some semblance of humanity.

But how was it right that Ganondorf lived while everyone else in the Hyrule he knew was gone?

He had tried very hard not to think about it, but seeing the spirits of Mipha and Sidon after freeing them from their puppet bodies had been too much, as it spelled the situation out loud and clear—not only were the spirits of those who had died against Calamity Ganon a century ago wrenched from the afterlife and thrown into servitude or imprisonment, but every single person left alive in Hyrule after the Calamity had been slain—Sidon, Teba, Riju, Yunobo—the successors of the slain Champions… Kass, the friendly Rito bard—and his wife and children, too… Impa, Paya, Purah, and Robbie—who had been invaluable allies in his quest… Kilton, Bolson, Hudson and his wife Rhodson—everyone in Tarry Town that he had helped bring together… The three graceful dragons—Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra… The shopkeepers and salesmen and travelers who had all made Link’s quest a bit more interesting… And Zelda—his Zelda…

They were all gone. He had failed them all again—and once again, he had come back from death, while everyone and everything dear to him had been utterly destroyed…

Though he rarely spoke—by his own choice—Link was unable to stop the scream of sheer anguish that escaped his lips as he crashed to his knees in despair and guilt.

He knew the others would have heard it—but he hadn’t been able to hold it in any longer after carrying such a weight on his soul.

Sure enough, he heard running footsteps, and out of his peripheral vision, he saw Mario in the lead, with Peach by his side. Right behind him were Samus, Pikachu, Yoshi, Marth, Kirby, Lucario, Isabelle, Villager, and Captain Falcon, all looking at him with concern.

Mario moved to take a step forward, but Samus stopped him.

“Let me talk to him first,” she said. “…I have a better idea of where he’s been—and where he is now. You take the others back to the campsite for now; I’ll bring Link back later, and you can talk to him then.”

Mario looked slightly confused at first, but as he looked to Peach and Yoshi, and realized that he still had some of his near and dear ones with him while Link did not, he understood.

“Tell him we’re all with him, Samus,” he said.

“I will,” she said.

She walked over to Link as the others left; Link was trying to salvage whatever he could of his dignity, but she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t know how much they told you about me when you signed up for this tournament, but I know what it’s like to feel like you failed everyone who was counting on you,” she said, matter-of-factly. “There’s no easy way to deal with the feeling, even if you know you did the best you could. And no, it’s never going to go away. But the moment when you let that keep you from fighting on—that’s when it’s all over. Because that’s when they will have truly died for nothing. Don’t let that happen to them, Link.”

Link glanced up at her, listening, and managed a nod.

“I’m not going to give you any false hopes and say that defeating Galeem will solve everything,” she continued. “Because I don’t know if that’s true or not.” She paused. Defeating Tabuu two tournaments ago had reversed almost all of his damage, except for the destruction of the Isle of the Ancients. But Galeem was so much more powerful and so much more merciless and monstrous than Tabuu—there was no way of knowing if defeating him could reverse the damage. …There was no way of knowing if they could defeat him at all—he had slain them all at the cliffside, after all; it was only because of his toying with them that he’d resurrected them as his puppets, and it was only because a small miracle that several of them had been freed from Galeem’s control at this point. “But whether or not it will bring them back, we can’t sit back and let Galeem do whatever he wants. We have to try to stop him, and we need everyone. If you need some time to sort things out for yourself, by all means—take some time. But we can’t do this without you. Sorry to put any extra pressure on you, but I’m not going to mince words. You’re the Hero of Hyrule—so, in the name of the Hyrule you knew and loved, fight back. Never forget, but never stop fighting.”

Link stood up now, nodding again. He then pointed at Samus, who understood.

“Yes,” she said. “I have memories of people I’m fighting for, too. Like you, I’ve been doing this before Galeem ever showed up. And now, I’m doing it again. I know there’s times that it hits more than others. You can stop for a moment—as long as you pick yourself up and keep going after a while. It’s what they would’ve wanted.”

Link nodded again and indicated the path back to the campsite. Samus nodded back, and the two of them headed back along the trail.

At least Link could take consolation in the fact that, this time, he wasn’t fighting an abomination all alone. And together, with his allies, he would fight in the name of all those in Hyrule who had perished at Galeem’s metaphorical hands.

And he would pray to the Goddesses that Galeem’s evil could, someday, be undone.


End file.
